A Church of All: Persons with disabilities – commonalities and differences
17 October 20151. “The disabled“ have struggled hard to become recognized as “disabled people“. The fight was worthwhile for two reasons. First, throughout history, disabled people have been de-personalised and perceived as a problem to be dealt with. Second, they are often seen as a homogeneous group whose individual differences do not need to be respected. This section is about who we are, our common experience. Its purpose is to make the point that, in common with all groups in society, we too are very diverse and have different stories. We also want to explore a possible framework to help disabled people and the churches to find a common starting point from which to begin this exploration.
2. We have probably all experienced limitations; in how we move, feel, think, perceive. Due to our impairments and resultant disabilities, we have been marginalized by the attitudes, actions or barriers in society. In many societies, persons with disabilities have organised themselves into powerful lobby groups which advocate against such marginalization and for disability rights and independence, even from their familial carers. Yet one of the hardest challenges facing many carers is to maintain the voice of the voiceless when those for whom they care often have such profound and multiple disabilities that their silence is only understood in the depth of the loving relationship of care.
3. Modern society has brought with it many hazards that clearly make humankind collectively responsible for injuries caused by the likes of landmines and substance abuse, but the cause of some disabilities remains inexplicable.
4. Most disabled people are economically disenfranchised and experience some deprivation in their standard of living or employment opportunities. Carers also have to make considerable sacrifices, experiencing significant demands on their time and resources that limit their ability to pursue other activities and careers. Yet, to protest against the economic deprivation of disabled people and their carers in a global context is to grossly under-estimate the relativity of poverty between societies and countries. The disparity between the material situation of a disabled person in the economic North and that of a non-disabled person in the economic South (the former may be “better off” than the latter) should not be ignored. Those factors represent the existential bond and reality facing the overwhelming majority of persons with disabilities and their families today.
5. Disability can cause not only economic disenfranchisement but also poverty of relationships and opportunity. Persons with disabilities often become vulnerable to discriminatory social trends. A market economy encourages abortion and the allowing of babies to die. In many countries the systematic abortion of the foetus with certain malformations and those with Down’s syndrome give a very negative message of society’s view of disability. Such a market economy further leads to institutionalisation and reduced access to adequate medical care for the majority of the world’s population. Disabled people become vulnerable to easy commercial fixes and religious groups which offer miraculous healing in the setting of superficial acceptance and friendship.
6. No social group is ever the same, and disabled people are no exception to the rule. We come from a variety of cultures, and are thus culturally conditioned in the same manner as every person. We have experienced different kinds and levels of medical care and differing social attitudes. We have come to an acceptance of our disabilities by diverse routes. Some of us have been disabled since birth, either by congenital conditions or by the trauma of birth itself, whilst others have been victims of accidents or have had disabilities develop later in life. Each one of us has struggled to accept our disability and has found that we have been accepted or hindered in this acceptance by the quality of medical care or education we have received, or by the attitudes of people who have had an influence in our lives and spiritual well-being. We have been supported by the bonds of different disability cultures such as the uniqueness of sign-language or a particular political understanding of our minority status. We wish to assert that our differences are part of the richness of disabled people as a group, and that we rejoice in them.
7. Those disabled people who share a Christian faith are united by their awareness of God’s love and Jesus’ compassion for sick and disabled people, and find strength in the care of Christ. However, many have found that the Church’s teaching on this truth has been too limited, and have looked for their own understanding. Each one’s awareness of how long he/she might expect to live, and their own faith experience have affected how they accept their disabilities. They have relied upon certain theological tools to address their existential need to explain the mystery and paradox of love and suffering, coexisting and giving meaning to their lives.
8. We affirm that God loves all disabled people and extends to all the opportunity to respond to that love. We believe that every disabled person has the opportunity to find peace with God.
9. Genesis 32: 24-26
Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.“
10. In our wrestling with God, as disabled people we all ask the same basic questions, but the theological enquiry involved may be complex. Why me or my loved one? Is there a purpose to my disability? The answers to those questions can be influenced by the expected time-span of a disability, and by the time and circumstances of its onset. Acceptance or otherwise of a disabling impairment is influenced by knowledge of how long one can expect to live and what quality of life one can expect to experience.
11. We have wrestled with God intellectually and physically to achieve this peace, and whilst some of us have been privileged to write intellectually about it, others have shown it in their innate gift of grace which is shown in the love and affection to those who care for them so deeply. If so many disabled people have this ability to come to terms with God, the Church must surely find ways of accepting the gifts which we have to offer. It is not a case of meeting halfway but of full acceptance.
